June 22, 2004

Baghdad Freestyle

Michael Tucker, who had two stays in Iraq and was embedded during the second trip, is making a film about the war. His site, Gunnerpalace.com, is part journal, part overview of the project. What’s particularly nice are two video clips he shot. One involves a soldier playing a Hendrix-style Star Spangled Banner on the roof of a palace with the sound of gun fire and the speakers of a minaret in the background. The soldier had asked Tucker to bring him the amp.

The second clip involves a soldier rapping with another soldier behind him doing some percussion on the hood of a jeep. As Tucker explains:

“During the first trip, I captured the rappers spitting out freestyle raps that had an attitude that an interview couldn’t transmit. The raps evolved to spoken word poetry delivered by one young soldier. At the time, recording in the rubble of the Palace it seemed a little corny, but looking at the tape now, he gives a better appraisal of the situation than any newsman.”